Greenwire: Biologists say Maryland bats are infected with the same deadly fungal disease that has killed more than a million of the animals since 2006.
A state scientist doing an annual survey last week found dead and weakened bats in a cave near Cumberland. About three-quarters of the bats had clear signs of white nose syndrome.
“It’s likely to kill a majority of them before spring,” said Dan Feller, the biologist who discovered the bats. Usually 90 percent of the bats in an infected colony die by the second year.
Scientists are not sure how the disease, which leaves a white fungus on bats’ exposed skin, is spread. The rapid pace suggests it may come from human cave explorers. White nose syndrome was first found near Albany, N.Y., in 2006 and has spread as far south as Virginia.
The discovery last week is the first sign of the disease in Maryland. Last spring, scientists found their first case of the disease in Tennessee.
Scientists speculate that the disease took so long to come to Maryland because the state’s small caves do not attract humans. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking people to stay out of caves in all states where white nose syndrome has been found, as well as any caves during bat hibernation period between September and May.
Maryland scientists are still awaiting test results, but Feller said he has no doubt that the bats have white nose syndrome. They have suspended their survey to adjust for the disease.
It is unclear how the fungus kills bats. The best evidence shows that it burns off fat during hibernation, causing the bats to waken early, exhausting them before there is enough food. The fungus is not a threat to humans, but a depleted bat population would mean fewer predators for insects and less support for some cave-dwelling creatures (Frank D. Roylance, Baltimore Sun, March 11). – JP